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Transportation

Americans have always been a people on the move—on rails, roads, and waterways (for travel through the air, visit the National Air and Space Museum). In the transportation collections, railroad objects range from tools, tracks, and many train models to the massive 1401, a 280-ton locomotive built in 1926. Road vehicles include coaches, buggies, wagons, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles, and automobiles—from the days before the Model T to modern race cars. The accessories of travel are part of the collections, too, from streetlights, gas pumps, and traffic signals to goggles and overcoats.

In the maritime collections, more than 7,000 design plans and scores of ship models show the evolution of sailing ships and other vessels. Other items range from scrimshaw, photographs, and marine paintings to life jackets from the Titanic.

This is a three-masted, wooden planked model of an unnamed 19th century French brigantine, fully rigged and armed with six cannons. A French description of the model in the original accession file indicates that this sort of fine-lined, swift vessel was used by pirates or as messenger vessels, due to its speed and maneuverability.

This model is incorrectly named after George W. Neare, a former steamboat captain who went into the insurance business in 1865. By 1889, Neare, Gibbs, and Company were the main river agents for the Insurance Company of North America, whose successor company CIGNA, donated this model to the Smithsonian.

According to a CIGNA article, this model constructed by the boat’s engineer is actually of the steamboat J. S. Pringle, which Neare captained in the 1850s. Measuring 307 tons, J. S. Pringle was built in 1854 in Brownsville, PA for Captain William Stoops, who ran a ferry service across the Ohio River. It was sold in 1855 and moved to the Missouri River. J. S. Pringle ran from St. Louis to St. Joseph under Captain William Conley. In 1861 it carried army supplies from Cincinnati to Nashville under Captain George W. Neare. Captain Hazlett ran it from Louisville on the Tennessee River in Spring 1862. In March 1865 it was acquired by the US Quartermaster’s Department. Steamboats on the western rivers were notoriously bad risks, having relatively explosive high-pressure engines, wooden hulls, and flammable cargo.

A gold finial, projecting uprights and four smokestacks painted black have red and gold spiked crowns. An eagle on a gold ball is on top of the captain's cabin. Two lanterns hang from the smokestacks, and there is a bell on the upper deck. A red, blue and gold emblem is on the bow and an American flag flies at the stearn.

Loch Torridon was built in 1881 by Barclay, Curle & Company in Glasgow, Scotland. It measured 312 feet in length, 42 feet in beam, 24 feet in depth of hold, and 2,081 tons. It was one of the best known, fastest, and most graceful 4-masted barques of the British merchant marine. Lock Torridon carried cargo and passengers between Glasgow and Calcutta. It was first under the command of Captain Pinder until 1882, when Captain Pattman took command. In 1912 it was sold to Russia, and on 24 January 1915 it was abandoned in sinking condition in 51.35N 12.28W (English Channel), while on a timber voyage from Fredrikstad to Geelong. The entire crew and the captain's terrier were saved by the steamer Orduna of Liverpool on a trip from Halifax to Liverpool.

The model was built ca. 1930 on a scale of 1/12 inches to the foot and is correct in all details and rigging. The British naval architect and mate of the original vessel verified the plans and fittings. Model builder J.S. Kamp was a member of the Philadelphia Ship Model Society and spent over 3000 hours were spent constructing the scratch-built model.

Susquehanna was built in 1891 by Arthur Sewall in Bath, Maine. It measured 273 feet 6 inches in length, 45 feet 1 inch in beam, 28 feet in depth of hold, and 2591 tons. On its maiden voyage, after an average passage to San Francisco, it reached Liverpool on September 3, 1892, a speedy 94 days out. It sailed in the China trade under Captain Joe Sewell until 1901. Sewell was succeeded by M.T. Bailey and later by Captain Watts. In 1903, Susquehanna sailed between San Francisco and New York in a short 110 days. The ship made the passage between Honolulu and Delaware Breakwater carrying a full cargo of sugar in 89 days. On its last voyage in 1905, it carried 3,558 tons of ore, which was so heavy that the ship’s outer hull planking seams opened up in bad weather. The crew was unable to pump out the water fast enough, and they were forced to abandon Susquehanna on August 24, 1905.

In 1925, the President of the Insurance Company of North America Benjamin Rush commissioned this model from Captain Frederick Williamson, who lived at the Sailor’s Snug Harbor on Staten Island, New York.

This model was donated to the Smithsonian in 2005 by the CIGNA Corporation of Philadelphia, PA. According to a 1930 letter from the London agent for the Insurance Company of North America (INA), CIGNA’s predecessor company, an INA Liverpool Surveyor found this model of the fully rigged, frigate-built East Indiaman merchant ship Thomas Hicks in a remote Yorkshire village. The letter also said that the Surveyor was told “that only an old time sailor could possibly have made and rigged it so accurately and that it must have entailed a considerable amount of skill and patience.” Off duty sailors often had spare time that could be applied to crafts such as ropework, scrimshaw or wood carving. Some also might build ship models, which was a subject they knew well. Sailor-built models traditionally are considered to have accurate, if unscaled rigging, since so much of what they did was associated with raising, trimming and lowering sails.

Donated by the CIGNA Corporation of Philadelphia, PA, this model is of an unknown but fully rigged 19th century American two-masted brig. Adapted from the British brigantine, American brigs were built as early as the 18th century and used frequently by the U.S. Navy. Brigs were extremely efficient and economical and were also used by coastal sea traders and in the West Indies trade.

This particular model was commissioned around 1924 by Captain Frederick Williamson of Snug Harbor, which was a rest home for retired sailors in New York. It was ordered at the same time as 2005.0279.069.

Made ca. 1890, this model is of an unidentified four-masted barque. It has a solid oak hull and scored deck to simulate planking. The model is fully rigged, but without sails, and has a galleried stern and bow.

The barque (or bark) is a sailing ship with at least three masts, of which all but the one at the stern is rigged with square sails. The sail at the stern is rigged fore and aft, for handling purposes. In the later 19th century, the bark grew as large as 3,000 tons capacity, mainly for the bulk cargo trade (grains, coal, fertilizers). The biggest sailing ship ever built was the 1911 bark France II of 5,806 tons. Today, the few remaining examples of the type are museum or sail training ships.

Mary Frazier was a three-masted whaling bark built in 1832 in Newbury, MA. It measured 108 feet 10 inches in length, 24 feet 1 inch in beam, 12 feet 1 inch in depth of hold, and 288 tons. It was originally a cargo vessel, with multiple owners. In 1842 its captain was James L. Smith; George Hagery took over as captain in 1849. The Frazier was registered in New Bedford, MA, a center for American whaling. In 1889, Mary Frazier was abandoned at sea in the Dutch East Indies after an unusually long career for a ship of 67 years. This model appears to be sailor-made, which indicates a lower overall quality but with detailed rigging. There is elaborate rigging and lines but no sails, and the model is not highly finished.

The merchant ship Thomas Dana was built at Newburyport, Massachusetts in 1876—the 86th vessel constructed by shipbuilder John Currier, Jr. It measured 203 feet 5 inches in length, 38 feet 5 inches in beam, 24 feet 2 inches in depth of hold, and 1,445 tons. According to Lloyd’s Register, the Thomas Dana was owned by Thayer & Lincoln, a Boston firm of merchants, ship owners, and operators; however, another source indicates that it was owned by W.H. Lincoln & Company. The ship traded throughout the Atlantic Ocean, with frequent stops in Liverpool, Great Britain. On 30 October 1883, the Dana was en route from Liverpool to the Azores when it collided with and sank the French brig Rocaley. The French vessel was transporting 102 fish salters from Newfoundland back home to France after the fishing season ended. The Dana managed to rescue 21 men and remained in the area for 4-1/2 hours, but was unable to find any more survivors. Captain C.C. Sisson of the Dana believed that the lost crew probably were asleep belowdecks when the ship sank. The Dana disappeared from the registry in 1895.

This rigged model was attributed to Captain Fredrick Williamson. Captain Williamson lived at Snug Harbor, a sailor’s rest home in New York, and in the 1920s he crafted ship models for the Insurance Company of North America, among other clients.

Built in 1732, H.M.S. Centurion was a British 60-gun fourth rate ship-of-the-line—the fourth largest class of warship in the Royal Navy. It measured 144 feet in length, 40 feet 10 inches in beam, and 1,005 tons. Over the course of an extremely long and active 37-year career, Centurion contributed to the trials of the world’s first chronometer in 1736 and served as flagship for Captain George Anson’s circumnavigation (1740-44), after which it was rebuilt. In company with H.M.S. Norwich, Centurion escorted troops to America in 1754 to help the colonies with the uprising of Native Americans working with the French. The ship was broken up in Chatham, Great Britain, in 1769.